Serious Decline

A group of educators and scholars, alarmed at soaring rates of teenage homicides, suicides and out-of-wedlock births, attacked what it called the “timidity” of schools in instilling good character traits in the young. The 27 academics warned that “schools in general are not doing enough to counter the symptoms of serious decline in youth character.”

The report, “Developing Character: Transmitting Knowledge,” cited government statistics showing that out-of-wedlock births to white females ages 15-19 have increased 800 percent since 1940, and the rate of death by homicide for white males, 15-24 climbed 315 percent.